Common name: Ram Tulsi, Wild Basil, African basil, clove basil, shrubby basil, tree basil • Hindi: राम तुलसी Ram tulsi, बन तुलसी Ban tulsi • Manipuri: ৰাম তুলসী Ram tulsi • Marathi: ajavala, राम तुलसी ramatulasi, tanatulasu • Tamil: elumichantulasi, peruntulasi, elumiccam tulaci • Telugu: nimma-tulasi, nimmatulasi, rama-tulasi • Bengali: ৰাম তুলসী Ram tulsi • Oriya: sondabhogohulono • Urdu: Tukhm faranjmushk • Assamese: ৰাম তুলসী Ram tulsi • Sanskrit: ajaka, ajeka, bilvaparni, doshakleshi
Botanical name: Ocimum gratissimum Family: Lamiaceae (Mint family)
Synonyms: Ocimum suave, Ocimum viride, Ocimum viridiflorum
Ram Tulsi is a perennial herb, woody at base. Stems grow to 1-3 m long.
Leaves broadly to narrowly ovate, usually 5-13 cm long, 3-9 cm wide,
surface somewhat hairy. Leaf margin is toothed, tip narrow, base wedge-
shaped. Leaf stalks are 1-6 cm long. Flowers are greenish white to
greenish yellow, 4-7 mm long. Sepal cup is 3-5 mm long, enlarging up to 7
mm long in fruit. Upper sepal is ovate, and the median lobes of the lower
lip are shorter than lateral ones. Nutlets are nearly spherical, 1.5-2 mm
in diameter. The species is distributed world-wide.
| Photographed in Lodhi Garden, Delhi. |
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